lwclark’s Comments

But the important thing seems to me to be that megaupload's profits are comparable to the damage it's supposed to have caused. This supports the claim that the problem (even the problem they claim!) can be sufficiently covered by a business model change instead of a legal change.

They've already done this for you! Mega reported profits of $175,000,000 and supposedly caused damages of $500,000,000. It seems hard to believe that an "official" website couldn't have managed to at least match the earnings of 175 million.

We need to convince the government to think clearly for just a couple of minutes. A website which spreads the benefits of the product to EVERYONE clearly has immense social utility. Not only that, it earns profits on the same order of magnitude as the entertainment industry's ridiculous claims. Sounds like a GREAT scenario to me, no government intervention necessary. Literally everyone wins.

If this is the root of the problem, will this message be a part of the various blackout pages going up soon? This is such a great chance to get people talking about a core issue and start changing the nature of the discussion entirely. Once the undesirable legislation has been stopped, it seems as if we'd like to carry that momentum into creating good legislation, on both the intellectual property and internet freedom fronts.

Internet activism has proven to be very powerful on this issue, but if it peaks and dies off it won't have made a lasting impact. How can we sustain it, even when we no longer feel threatened, to become a force to make positive changes in this area and beyond?